Article storing and dispensing device



y 17, 1951 c. BOCKIUS 2,560,928

ARTICLE STORING AND DISPENSING DEVICE Filed June 15, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 1

"MIN IIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIQ a INVENTOR CHRIQTOPHER BOCKIUS ATTORNEY July 17, 1951 c. BOCKIUS ARTICLE STORING AND DISPENSING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 15, 1946 INVENTOR CHRISTOPHER BOCKIUS m QM ATTORNEY Patented July 17 1951 ARTICLE s'roamo AND DISPENSING DEVICE Christopher Bock-ins, Ridgewood, N. J-., assignor to American Machine & Foundry Company, a. corporation of New Jersey Application June 1 5, 1946, Serial No. 676,973

1 Claim. (of. 2111-49) The present invention relates to apparatus for automatically storing and feeding sta'cked'articles,

of the type wherein the upper layer of articles is.

automatically kept at the same level regardless of the number of layers contained in the dispensing device.

Hitherto, in devices of this type, such as shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,251,874., issued to William J. Gibbs, the sizes of trays or the size of articles that could be put in the dispenser have been restricted because the operating arrangement is such as to necessarily interfere with making the dispenser an open-sided apparatus. It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide an open-top open-sided dispenser of this general type which will handle trays and articles of various lengths extending beyond the sides of the dispenser, thus overcoming the necessity for employing equal size trays and thereby increasing the range of usefulness of this type of dispenser.

It is also an object of this invention to provide an open-sided device which will maintain the upper layer of work at a constant level regardless of the amount of material left in the dispensing device.

Another object of this invention is todevise.

a spring suspension rack which will maintain the upper layer of material at the same level by means of an endless chain without interfering with the open-sided arrangement.

A further object is to simplify the tote box carrier by eliminating the upper cross member and to simply use the end frames to support the platform carrying the articles to be dispensed.

It is obvious that a dispenser of this type has great value in increasing the efiiciency of the worker in that he always finds the work at the same level without having to reach down for and lift up the work.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear as the description of the particular physical embodiment selected to illustrate the invention progresses. In the accompanying d-r-awings, which form a part of this specification, like characters of reference have been applied to corresponding parts throughout the several views which make up the drawings in it.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a dispensing device embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the dispensing device with the frame of same shown in phantom and the carrier held in a depressed condition to show the operating mechanism.

The open end material rack consists of a base frame I, constructed of suitably joined channel irons, which .has mounted on the under portion thereof swivel casters 2 to permit the material rack to be readily pushed to different locations. A .pair of vertical end frames 3 and 4 are secured, either by bolting or welding, at the lower portion thereof to the base frame I so as to form a U-shaped frame to permit a table platform traveling vertically between said end frames to support articles of various lengths extending beyond the Width or limits of the base frame.

The operating mechanism consists of a pair of clevis bolts 5 and 6 mounted in the end frame 4. Connected to the clevis bolts 5 and 6, by means of studs 1 and 8, are a pair of sprocket chains 9 and II]. Sprocket chains 9 and Ill travel over sprockets II and I2 which are freely mounted on a floating shaft l3, and then travel over sprockets I4 and I5 which are fixedly mounted on shaft I6. Shaft I6 is rotatably mounted in suitable bearings secured to side walls of end frame 4.

The other end of sprocket chains 9 and ID are connected by means of studs I1 and I8 to clevis bolts I19 and 20. Clevis bolts I9 and 20 are connected to brackets 2| and 22, which are fixedly attached to the elevator table platform 23.

The second set of sprocket chains 24 and 25 are connected to suitable studs 26 and 21 which are mounted in end frame 4. The second pair of sprocket chains 24 and 25 travel over a pair of sprockets 28 freely mounted on floating shaft I3. Sprocket chains 24 and 25 travel over a pair of sprockets 29 and .30 fixedly mounted .on shaft I6. .By fixedly mounting sprockets I4, I5, 29 and 30 on shaft I6, all of the chains are interconnected for equal movement which stabilize the table platform and always maintains it in a horizontal position even though the load is not equally distributed on the platform. It should also be noted that this feature requires the use of only one spring, such as -45 to apply equal spring tension to all four chains; and that the spring, to apply spring tension equally, .does not necessarily have to be hooked to the center of the shaft l3 but can be hooked near either end thereof.

Sprocket chains 24 and 25 then travel over sprockets 3f, 32, 33 and 34 which are pivoted to the base frame I by means of studs 35, 36,, 31 and 38 and also over sprockets 39 and 40 pivoted to the upper portion of end frame 3 by means of similar studs. The ends of the sprocket chains are connected to a pair of bolts M and 42, having a clevis head, which are mounted in brackets 43 and 44 both of which are fixedly secured to the table platform 23.

for the increment so that the upper layer of work is maintained uniformly on the same level. will be noted that work extending beyond the limits of the platform 23, as shown in Fig. 1, is not restricted in traveling upwardly and the load of stacked material will automatically rise or descend a distance correlated with the weight of each increment and decrement added to or removed from the material supported on the carrier platform 23.

While, in most instances, the dispensing device disclosed will be used to hold uniformly weighted trays and articles of the same height, it is also possible to carry trays and articles of varying height and length, as shown in Figure 1. Sometimes a job requires work to be performed at one station on different type articles such as iron, copper and aluminum. In such an instance, trays of different heights will be used, each carrying a weight which is approximately correlated to the height of the tray. It is also possible to carry material on the platform without resorting to the use of trays. If such material is light, it can be carried readily with other loads, as is shown in Figure 1, without rendering the calibrated spring tension means inaccurate.

The operation of the automatic open end material rack may be briefly described as follows:

When the rack is empty, hook-shaped members 50 to 54 are adjusted so that the springs 45 to 4 The invention above described may be varied in construction within the scope of the claim, for the particular device selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many possible embodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the precise details of the structure shown and described.

What is claimed is: An open-sided self-leveling tote rack comprising, a first upright frame, a second upright frame,

a base, means for connecting the bottom portion of each of said upright frames to opposite sides of 49 are under sufficient tension when connected to maintain the table platform in its uppermost position. When articles, such as trays 56 and tubular members 51, have been placed on the platform, springs through 49 are then disconnected one at a time until the required number of springs remain to support the load under the spring tension calibration desired. Once this adjustment has been made, additional articles of approximately the same thickness and weight can be added to articles already on the platform and the table platform will automatically descend to compensate for the additional increment in weight.

In this way, the upper layer of the stacked articles is always maintained at a constant height. If articles of different thickness or weight are to be stacked on the rack, the aforementioned adjustment will be made to handle the new articles.

It will be noted that articles of varying length can be supported on the platform. This avoids the necessity of carrying in stock a large assortment of tote boxes for handling articles of different sizes. The end type bracket construction disclosed is easily adapted for incorporation with various lengths of tote boxes, which permits automatic-open end material racks to be produced more quickly and economically.

said base, a set of anchors secured to the upper side of said first named frame, a rotatable shaft mounted in the upper part of said first named frame, a set of sprockets fixedly mounted on said shaft, a table adapted and arranged to travel vertically between said frames and support articles thereon of lengths which extend beyond opposite sides of said table, a first set of sprocket chains connected at one end to the side of said table adjacent said first named frame and passing over said fixedly mounted sprockets and then formin a hanging loop and having the other end connected to said first set of anchors, a secondset of anchors connected to the upper portion of said first named frame, a second set of sprockets fixedly mounted on said shaft, a third set of sprockets mounted on the base adjacent to the bottom of said first upright frame, a fourth set of sprockets mounted on said base adjacent the bottom portion of said second named frame, a fifth set of sprockets located at the upper portion of said second named frame, a second set of sprocket chains connected at one end to said secondset of anchors and at the other end to the opposite side of said table adjacent the second upright frame, said second set of sprocket chains passing over the fifth, fourth, third and second sets of sprockets and forming a loop intermediate the second set of sprockets and the second set of anchors mounted in the upper portion of the first frame, a floating shaft having a plurality of sprockets adapted and arranged to engage with said sprocket chain loops and to support said shaft therein, a plurality of springs connected at one end to said floating shaft, and a plurality of anchors connected to the lower portion of the first frame which secure the opposite end of each of said springs. 1'

. CHRISTOPHER BOCKIUS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the Gibbs Feb. 15, 1949 

